DUSHANBE, November 20, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Quite a powerful blast rocked the center of Dushanbe today morning.  Probably, the explosion was caused by gas escape in an apartment building on the Roudaki Avenue.  

According to witnesses, the explosion occurred at around 7:30 a.m.  The blast took place in an apartment building in center of Dushanbe on the Roudaki Avenue, opposite the President’s Palace.

The firefighting directorate within the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said the explosion had occurred on the third floor in the apartment building 93/1 Roudaki Avenue.  An old woman from this apartment in a state shock was taken to the hospital.

Fire caused by the blast seriously damaged the apartment.  The fire was extinguished quite quickly.  The blast caused no structural damage to other apartments and neighboring buildings, the source at the firefighting directorate said.  

            In the meantime, the source at Dushanbegaz (Dushanbe natural-gas distributor) said that they yesterday resumed natural-gas supplies to some areas of the city.